Citation

Abstract

Industrial symbiosis (IS) emerged as a self-organizing business strategy among firms that are willing to
cooperate to improve their economic and environmental performance. The adoption of such cooperative
strategies relates to increasing costs of waste management, most of which are driven by policy and
legislative requirements.
Development of IS depends on an enabling context of social, informational, technological, economical
and political factors. The power to influence this context varies among the agents involved such as the
government, businesses or coordinating entities. Governmental intervention, as manifested through
policies, could influence a wider range of factors; and we believe this is an area which is under-researched.
This paper aims to critically appraise the waste policy interventions from supra-national to
sub-national levels of government. A case study methodology has been applied to four European
countries i.e. Denmark, the UK, Portugal and Switzerland, in which IS emerged or is being fostered.
The findings suggest that there are commonalities in policy instruments that may have led to an IS
enabling context. The paper concludes with lessons learnt and recommendations on shaping the policy
context for IS development.